Electroplating apparatus



March 31, 1931. 1 1 wHA| }N 1,798,994

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 4, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Figi.

Inventor: lohn J. whahn,

His Attorneg.

Mmh 31, 1931.` J J. WHALW 1,798,994

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 4, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor:John J. Whdir1 His Attorheg.

Patented Mar. 31, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN 3'. 'WHALIIL OFBALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO ENERAL'ELECTBIC COH- IANY, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK ELECTROPLATIN G APPARATUS Application ledJanuary 4, 1929. Serial No. 330,297.

rlhe present invention relates to electroplating apparatus and moreparticularly to to electroplating apparatus in which rotatable barrelsmounted in the electrolyte carry t5 the articles to be plated.

lt is among the objects of the present invention to eliminate the costlyand laborious methods heretofore employed in still plating and to reducethe time heretofore ret quired to electroplate materials with the usuallarge standard barrels. A further object of the invention is to providea barrel plating apparatus in which the barrels not only rotate buttravel through the electrolyte l thereby keeping the solution constantlyagitated and producing a very uniform plate.

rlhe novel features which 1 believe to be characteristic of theinvention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. im'lhe inventionitself however will best be understood from reference tothe following specication when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which lil-ig. 1 is a perspective view of anelectro lating apparatus embodying the features o my invention; Fig. 2is a cross sectional view taken lengthwise through the tank disclosed inFig. 1a; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional View of the electroplating tank;while Fig. 4 is a. view partly in elevation and partly in section of aplating barrel employed in carrying my invention into effect.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, l have indicated at 1 anelectroplating 3-'5 tank filled with a suitable electrolyte 2. The

tank may be made of metal or wood depending upon the electrolyteemployed. A plurality of metal supports 3 are mounted crosswise on thetank and spaced lengthwise thereof. At opposite sides of the tank thesesupports carry insulated bolts 4 which in turn carry the busbars 5 and6. At the central portion of the tank similar insulated bolts 7 carry anendless grooved rail or rack 8 provided on its lower or under side withgear teeth 9 adapted to engage gears 10 on plating barrels 11. At oneend of the plating tank.

the lower side of the rail is smooth, as indicated at 8a in Fig. 2. 50

opposite ends of the tank 1 and engage an endless chain 14 which isprovided wlth supports 15 adapted to slide on the inner side of the rail8, as indicated in Fig. 3. Sprocket 12 is driven from an electric motor16 through shafts 17 and 18 and a worm gear 19 which is mounted on thesame shaft as the sprocket wheel 12.

The perforated barrels or containers 11 and the gears 10 are made of aphenolic resinous condensation product or other suitable material. Thecontainers have removable end portions 20 which are provided with shortmetal shafts 21 secured to circular metal plates 22 which are in contactwith the inner side of the end portions 20. Shafts 21 are each mountedin insulating sleeves 23 in order to prevent depositionof metal thereonduring the plating process.

A plurality of brackets 24, substantially U-shaped in cross section, aremounted on the endless rail 8 and secured in any suitable manner to thesupports 15 on the chain 14 so as to be movable therewith. Ordinarily,the brackets 24 are provided with openings through which the supports 15on the chain 14 extend. Short shafts 25 and 26 are secured to oppositesides of each bracket 24 and provided at the outer ends thereof withhangers 27 and 28 which have supporting hooks 29 at their lower ends toaccommodate the shafts 21 on the plating barrels 11. Spring contactmembers 30 are also mounted on the end portions of the shafts 25 and 26and bear against the outer end portions of the shafts 21. Hooks 29 onhangers 27 and 28 are reversely associated with one another, i. e., theopen portion of one hook faces one end of the plating tank, While theopen portion of the` other hook faces the opposite end of the tank,providing in this marrner an arrangement whereby the plating barrel by aslight sidewise movement may be removed from the supporting hooks whilein motion. The anode material comprises metal bars 31 which are mountedso as to rest on the edge and bottom of baskets 32 and to extend in alongitudinal direction in the plating tank. This disposition of theanode material brings it very close to the work to be 10 plated andmaintains the anode material atl ing an endless rail provided with gearteeth an approximately constant distance from a engagmg said gear, .andmeans for rotatmg large portion of the work to be plated. The saldcontalner on said gear. baskets 32 are suspended from the busbars Inwltness whereof, .I have hereunto set 5 5 and 6 which are mounted onopposite sides my hand hlS 2nd day 0f January, 1929. 70

` of the tank. Current is supplied to the elec- JOHN J. WHALIN.

trodes through leads 33 and 34 which are connected to busbars 5, 6 andrail 8 respectively.

10 To provide for the removal of sludge or 75 other solid materials fromthe plating solution, a pipe 35 is connected with the bottom of thetank 1. A motor driven pump 36 delivers the plating solution and sludgefrom the'bottom of the plating tank to an auxiliary 80 tank 37 which isconnected by a pipe 38 to a series of filters 39 extending across oneend of the tank 1.

In operation, the electric motor 16 drives 20 the endless chain 14through the system of ,85

gearing disclosed in Fig. 1. As the endless chain moves ina longitudinaldirection, it carries along with it the brackets 24. mounted on groovedcontact track 8. and the shafts 25 and 26 secured thereto` therebyrotating 90 the plating barrels 11 on the stationary rail or rack 8. Asthe barrels travel around to the end 40 of the tank the gears 10 come tothe smooth portion 8a of the rack 8 and the 3D barrels 11 cease torotate and are removed 95 from the tank, the plated articles removed andnew material inserted in its place.

With the arrangement disclosed, I have found that the combined motion ofrotation and translation given to the barrels keeps .100

the electrolyte constantly agitated, produces a very uniform plate onthe articles inthe barrels and that the provision of a smooth portion 8aon the underside of rack 8 permits unloading of the plating barrel atone 105 point without interfering with the operation of the system. v

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe UnitedStates is:

1. In electroplating apparatus, a tank for no the electrolyte, aperforated container mounted therein and adapted to contain ar- 4 ticlesto be plated, a gear secured to said container, a stationary rackmounted on the tank and provided with gear teeth adapted to 115 engagesaid gear, and means for moving said container on said rack.

. 2. In electroplating apparatus, a tank for the electrolyte, aperforated container mounted therein adapted to contain articles m0 tobe plated, a gear secured to said container, a stationary rack engagingsaid gear, supporting means for said container, said means being mountedon said rack, and means for moving said supporting means to thereby 125rotate the plating barrel. 3. In electroplating apparatus, a tank forthe electrolyte, a container provided with a `vgear mounted in theelectrolyte, means for supporting said container, said means includl 13

